The Forsaken Clan :: Book 1 :: Distant Storms
by weas1e.face
Summary: There had always been four Clans in the eyes of StarClan, and four they were supposed to remain. Yet, when ThunderClan suddenly withdraws completely from this legacy, the remaining three are left scrambling to stay alive. Orangepaw of ShadowClan is born in mystery, and it is mystery he must unravel as he grows up: about his life, his lineage, and the strange cats beyond the border.
1. Chapter 1

**::CHAPTER ONE::**

No tom ever came to visit the nursery, and his mother named no mate.

Orangekit could see it in the way they looked at him, the way they spoke to his mother. Amidst the dense, dark firs of the ShadowClan's territory, against the canvas of a bog full of shadows, his bright ginger coat stuck out like a robin's chest. As he huddled in the dark of the nursery, he knew well, despite his mother's efforts to shelter him from it, that his Clan-mates were speculating about him. It wasn't unusual that he was fatherless, but when no tom in all of ShadowClan had a pelt as bold as his, it begged the question who else it could have come from.

Morning was steadily rolling over the camp and the young tom had no inclination to get up. He pressed deep into his mother's fur, absorbing the comforting warmth she provided. Her flanks rose and fell melodically, almost lulling him back to sleep, until he felt the lean muscles of her body tense below her tabby-and-white coat. A sword of light had pierced through the shadows of the nursery and the brambles draped over its entrance, landing directly on her face and weaning her from her slumber. Orangekit reluctantly sat up as she hefted herself to her paws, fur glimmering in the sun's radiance. A yawn stretched her lips as she blinked the sleep out of her clear blue eyes, came to rest upon him. A smile broke her maw.

"Good morning, little one," she murmured, pulling him into her chest with a paw. She lowered her head and swiped her tongue between his ears, smoothening the sleep-ruffled hairs of his coat. "Did you sleep well?"

Orangekit nodded, scowling as her tongue trailed across his pelt. "Yeah," he replied, before wriggling out of her grip and shaking his pelt. "You don't have to do that anymore, Lilystripe- I'm almost six moons old, y'know."

She chuckled softly. "That just gives me all the more reason to do it. You're going to be an apprentice soon, and I won't be able to treat you like a kit anymore." Reminiscence entered her eyes as she went on, "I remember when you were first born. You were-"

"-Hardly bigger than your own paw, I know, I know," he finished quickly, hoping to StarClan the other kits hadn't heard.

"Hardly strong enough to make a sound, too," came a voice from across the nursery. Mother and son's heads turned to see the tortoiseshell face of the other queen lifting from her paws, her scrutinizing gaze switching between the both of them. "I was honestly surprised you survived that first night, let alone this long." With a wry grin, she added, "Your mother didn't look so good herself, but I suppose she pulled herself together."

Orangekit flattened his ears against his skull. Lilystripe's tail tip twitched in annoyance, but she said nothing as she ran a licked paw over her whiskers.

The queen, picking up on his signal, continued, "Sometimes I wonder what your father would have thought of such a tiny scrap as you, but I suppose he left to avoid finding out."

In an instant, Lilystripe was on her paws, lips slightly pulled back as she snapped at the other queen, "That's enough, Morningbloom."

Morningbloom only laughed, turning to nudge her kits awake. "I'm just saying," she muttered.

Orangekit watched his mother turn around with a snort. He stared up at her as she seemed to contemplate something, but the cloud of thought disappeared as she smiled at him. She was invariably skilled at keeping her thoughts hidden. In a sweet tone, she asked, "Orangekit, why don't you go get us all something to eat?"

Glad for the excuse to leave the nursery, he willingly nodded. He scampered passed Lilystripe and bursted out of the den where, immediately he was struck by a blast of fresh air. All the scents of the marsh filled his nose and his eyes took in the sight of the already bustling camp of ShadowClan. Warriors were scattered across its grounds, some unraveling in luxurious stretches while others spoke casually about the day ahead. Outside the elders den, Silvercloud and Gorseclaw were sharing tongues, and in the shade her den overcast sat Dapplefall, their medicine cat, sorting herbs with her apprentice, Flamewhisker. Excitement bubbled within Orangekit as he spotted a patrol of warriors returning to camp.

 _That's gonna be me one day!_ He thought, marveling upon every detail in his sight. For a moment, he was lost in the bliss of his imagination, picturing himself as a lean, powerful warrior, hunting and fighting for his Clan, feeling- with a clarity like the stars on a cloudless night- the willingness to give his life for ShadowClan. However, such a moment faded quickly as he heard the voices of two cats behind him.

"There's that Lilystripe's kit," came one voice, just above a whisper.

"How small he is!" Hissed a reply. "She can hide it all she wants, but there's no way his father is a ShadowClan cat. He looks nothing like any of us- even a cat from another Clan could tell he isn't pure."

As the conversation rumbled between them, all the thrill and pride that had just bloomed within the young cat quickly withered, their words sinking into the soil of his mind where weeds of insecurity and shame began to grow in their place. He hastened his walk towards the fresh-kill pile, head hung low and eyes focused on the ground below him. Despite his mighty attempts, he failed to tune out their conversation.

"There's no way he'll ever grow to be as strong as a ShadowClan cat. I feel bad for whichever warrior has to mentor him. Having an apprentice is an honor, but that would just be a misfortune."

"If any cat has to bear such a burden, it'd best be that disgraceful Sn-"

With a grunt, Orangekit stumbled back. Shock spread through him as he quickly glanced up to see what- or /who/, as he soon realized- he had bumped into.

Above him hovered a large tomcat, whose brawny physique seemed to cast a shadow that wholly engulfed Orangekit's small frame. Striking golden eyes pierced his soul, freezing his paws to the ground beneath them. His amber gaze studied the cat whose dark tabby pelt was thick and covered in scars. Tension seemed to swell between the both of them as they examined one another in a stalemate of stares. Orangekit's heart beat like a trapped bird, frantic for freedom, against the cage of his ribs. He had never seen this cat before. Surely, by his size and age, he must be a ShadowClan warrior. Yet, something seemed off about the cat. Amidst all of ShadowClan, the faintest scent clung to his dark fur, something Orangekit could not quite name. However, the elusive glare of the warrior distracted the young ginger kit. He wondered, what was the warrior thinking? Was he surprised, disappointed, angry that Orangekit had gotten in his way? Did he even know who he was? Was he judging him, or searching for the right insults to send him on his way?

"Pardon," the cat finally said, breaking the silence.

"N-No, it was my bad," Orangekit stammered, trying not to let the nervousness he felt show in his voice. "I was just going to the fresh-kill pile, and I-I wasn't looking where I was going."

"You haven't eaten?" Asked the cat, as if he hadn't heard his excuses.

The young tom shook his head hesitantly. "Lilystripe just sent me to get breakfast."

A flash of something- gone too quick for Orangekit to decipher- ignited in the depths of his golden eyes. Without a word more, the dark tom turned on his paws, plucking a plump thrush off of the top of the fresh-kill pile. When he turned back around, he gestured with a nod for Orangekit to follow him. Unsure, yet not willing to mess up a second time with this cat, Orangekit pursued him quickly. The warrior padded toward the nursery, his steps slowing to a stop as he reached the entrance.

He placed the bird at the mouth of the den, stepping back as Lilystripe slid out of the shadows, a look on her face that Orangekit had never seen before. In her blue eyes shone apprehension, uncertainty. Snakeclaw had glanced at the queen, seeming to share the same feelings.

In a mist of tension, Lilystripe meowed, "Thank you, Snakeclaw."

Snakeclaw dipped his head. "Of course, Lilystripe."

And with that, he was gone. He turned on his paws and slinked off to the other side of camp, while the she-cat stared after him, the contemplation that had glimmered faintly in her eyes earlier that morning returning to her stare. Orangekit walked up to his mother, who seemed to snap out of her trance as he meowed, "Is that a good breakfast?"

She flinched, taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered to her usual warmth as she purred. "It's more than enough. Thank you, love." She lifted the thrush in her jaws, turning to pad over to where Morningbloom was sunning herself in a patch of light, before saying, "Marshkit and Briarkit are playing on the other side of the nursery. Why don't you join them? Then you can have whatever we don't finish."

Orangekit nodded, the idea of play-fighting raising his spirits. He waved his tail in farewell to his mother before scampering away. Behind the nursery, just as she said, were two kits scuffling in the dirt. One was a long-haired she-cat, whose cream coat was splotched with tortoiseshell patches much like her mother's. She was reared on her hind paws, cuffing her sister's ears, who was much shorter haired and a solid brown instead, apart from the darker tones on her face and limbs. Their giggles filled the air as he approached.

"Orangekit! Get her legs, get her legs!" Marshkit, the cream one, meowed, still reared as her sister rose to meet her, with paws locked on each other's shoulders in a mutual attempt to shove each other down.

He surged forward, tackling Briarkit, the other sister, playfully. With a squeal, the two came crashing to the ground on top of him, the three becoming a bundle of tails and whiskers as laughter erupted from them all. As they rolled apart, shaking the dust of their pelts, a purr rumbled in Marshkit's throat.

"That's cheating!" Briarkit whined.

"Nuh-uh!" Marshkit countered with a satisfied grin.

"A warrior has to be prepared for all possibilities," Orangekit teased in a mock-wisdom tone.

The pair chuckled. Briarkit opened her mouth to say something more, but it was a yowl that poured from her maw. Orangekit pinned back his ears, confusion sweeping over him. It was a deep, disturbed sound, one he knew couldn't have come from his den-mate. The yowl resonated throughout the entire camp, rattling their ears, and the three kits spun around to find the source of the cry. Dread slowly trickled down Orangekit's spine, spreading from nerve to nerve throughout his body and making the hairs on his hackles bristle frightfully. The kits immediately huddled together, eyes wide as they watched a patrol of cats burst through the camp entrance, ears pinned back and eyes so wide they seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

A large gray-and-white tom hurried over to them in an instant. To the supposed leader of the patrol, he asked, "What is it, Boulderfoot? What happened?"

Orangekit exchanged worried glances with Marshkit. "They must've seen something terrible," she whispered.

As a reddish-brown tom walked over to the patrol, taking his stance beside the gray-and-white cat, Briarkit murmured alertly, "Look! That's Ruststar."

The leader of the patrol, Boulderfoot, must have lost his breath from sprinting home so swiftly. The dark grey tom managed, however, to speak between heaves for air, "Two cats, dead, on the border. Their throats were slit, and they were old. ThunderClan scent was all over them." A snarl of pure disdain then entered his voice, making the blood run cold in Orangekit's veins. "Those foxes are killing their elders!"

Fury, disgust, and shock rippled throughout the Clan all at once. Lilystripe and Morningbloom found their kits' sides as that snarl broke Boulderfoot's voice. "These cats are scum. They steal our land, they kill without reason, they defy the Warrior Code..." Venom was dripping off his every word as his eyes searched the crowd, locking finally onto something. "And yet we harbor one of them in our own camp. He is no better than any one of those StarClan-forsaken disgraces!"

Before anything could stop him, Boulderfoot plunged through the crowd of gathered cats. Orangekit pressed into his mother nervously as warriors scattered, confused and stressed meows ringing out. As the ground cleared, all eyes came to fall upon Boulderfoot's bristling frame and the dark tabby warrior pinned beneath his claws, a warrior Orangekit had just come to know.

Snakeclaw.

"No," Lilystripe murmured. He glanced at her as he felt her muscles tensing beneath her bristling pelt. Her claws were sunken deep into the soil of camp like they were the only thing keeping her from bounding to the tom's rescue. Her blue gaze was fixed on something, and as he followed it, he understood what it was. A red stream was trickling down the dark warrior's shoulder and forming a pool at his side, something the Orangekit had never seen before.

Blood.

* * *

 **A/N:  
Hey, reader!**

 **I don't know your name, and you don't know mine, so let me introduce myself real quick: I don't use my real name online, so just call me Weasel.**

 **I'm no longer an active reader of Warrior Cats, but it holds a special place in my heart as it is the series which inspired me to be an author myself. I grew up on these books, and I always used to write fanfiction of it as a kid, but I never published anything despite always wanting to.**

 **Now that I'm older though, about to go off to college, I'm doing everything I wanted to do as a kid, starting with putting out my own Warrior Cat story.** **Some names may seem a little weird, maybe even a lot weird, but that is only because I wanted to keep true to the characters I made as a kid. I ask that you please look passed that, and enjoy the story!**

 **I don't know what day I will be uploading, but I will be uploading a new chapter at least once a week (this may waver though, because I am a senior in high school and that demands a lot of attention).**

 **That's about all I had to say. Thank** **you for reading this far! IF you liked what you read, why not give this story a follow and a review? It would be greatly appreciated!**

 **Until the next chapter though,  
Weasel.**


	2. Chapter 2

A stunned silence hung heavy over the camp.

Orangekit pressed into his mother's side, nervously watching the scene unfold before him. Boulderfoot had Snakeclaw pinned and was sinking his claws into the fur on the warrior's chest, threatening to tear skin. He had already slashed a wound into the cat's shoulder, where most of the blood was pouring from. The young tom's mind was racing with thoughts. Why wasn't Snakeclaw trying to defend himself? Why he didn't try to kick Boulderfoot off, or thrash his way free, or stand up for himself against such spiteful accusations? Silently, Orangekit pleaded for the cat to do /something/, but the dark warrior only lay tensely still. In his eyes was a look of wariness, yet Orangekit could not find a hint of fear amid it.

"This crowfood-eater is no better than his family in ThunderClan. How can we just assume he is? How can we trust someone who was raised to think that when cats get too old to be warriors, that they should just be dispposed of? That _any_ cat can _deserve_ to die? We're fools if we trust him. Absolute fools!" The tone of Boulderfoot's voice while he preached was lethal and cold enough to freeze the marrow in Orangekit's bones.

"Boulderfoot," came a steady voice from the back of the crowd. Cats steppped aside to make way for an old, reddish-brown tom, who stepped slowly as he approached the warrior. "I understand that you're shaken up, but blaming these murders on an uninvolved cat is making you out to be the fool you claim us all to be. Now get off of him and let Snakeclaw stand."

The dark grey tom twisted around, stifling a snarl. The grip he held on Snakeclaw seemed to tighten as he replied, "No. I don't know what you see, but _I'm_ protecting my Clan from a traitor before he gets to betray us."

"You are doing nothing but defying your leader," Ruststar coolly countered. "Snakeclaw is no threat. ThunderClan doesn't want him and he has nothing to gain by trying to get them to change their minds. There is no reason for him to betray us."

A growl tore from the warrior's throat. "And how do you know that?" He challenged, finally stepping off of Snakeclaw and turning completely to the older cat.

Ruststar titled his head, a light chuckle fluttering passed his maw that confused Orangekit beyond his wits. How could he laugh? This was serious!

"Are you saying your leader isn't wise?" Ruststar asked.

Boulderfoot, taken aback, stammered for a reply, but the older tom gave him no mercy to do so. He spoke as he took slow towards the warrior, each one magnifying the authority he had over the Clan. "I am well beyond your moons, Boulderfoot. I have seen and learned far more than you, and I know from experience that Snakeclaw is not only worthy of refuge here, but that he is no threat." His eyes narrowed as he finally closed the distance between him and his warrior; they were practically nose-to-nose. With an almost threatening edge to his tone, he added, "Trust _me_."

No cat dared to say a word or move a muscle. Orangekit was awestricken, his den-mates equally amazed. Boulderfoot seemed to want to say something, but could take the hint. He held his tongue and lowered his head.

Satisfied, the old cat's entire demeanor then reversed completely, as if he had never been mad in the first place. "Go get something to eat," he meowed in a voice much gentler than before. "You did well reporting this to camp, and all of your patrol deserve some time to calm down. Dapplefall will check on every one of you in case you need anything." Then, he turned to face his Clan, raising his voice as he ordered, "I will lead a patrol later to bury those elders. We will give them a proper funeral, and perhaps identify the bodies." Sternly, he concluded, "I will be sure to bring this up at the upcoming Gathering, but until then, I forbid any action towards ThunderClan by any of you. As gruesome as they are and as horrendous as their actions may be, they remain a formidable foe that should not be underestimated." After a murmur of agreement rippled throughout the camp, Ruststar concluded. "Now, why don't we get some hunters out in the marsh? Our fresh-kill pile is looking neglected."

Upon his word, cats scrambled to fulfill their duties. Ruststar flicked his tail and padded off towards his den with his deputy, Buzzardtail, at his side. Orangekit assumed they would be discussing the situation at hand. For a moment, the kit simply stood there, stunned, mind racing to try and comprehend what he had just seen, until he felt his mother move beside him- a sharp, abrupt jerk that snapped him from his thoughts.

Orangekit watched Lilystripe's lithe frame weave through the steadily dispersing crowd, coming to a stop in front of Snakeclaw. She lowered her head to sniff his wound, then lifted her head to speak to him. Even when he angled his ears, the young tom was too far away to hear what they were saying. He had never seen an interaction between his mother and Snakeclaw, or any cat for that matter. She was an outcast amongst her own Clan-mates. And yet, now she treated a ThunderClan reject with as much tenderness as she treated her own son? As the two walked away towards the medicine den together, he wondered just what history they had between them.

As if the thought had triggered it, behind him, Morningbloom spat a little over her breath. "What a surprise."

Orangekit turned around, eyes resting on a queen whose face was shadowed with disgust. He barely ever spoke to the nasty she-cat- in fact, he avoided doing so as much as he could- yet curiosity was already leading his paws over to her. "What do you mean?" He asked.

Morningbloom looked down at him. There was surprise on her round face. For a moment she was silent, only blinking confusedly down at him as though he was speaking dog to her, but her lips soon pulled back in a slight snarl. "What do you want?"

"I wanna know what you mean," he pressed, trying not to seem fazed by her growl. "Why would Lilystripe go to Snakeclaw so concerned like that? That's what you're talking about, isn't it?"

For a moment, the queen appeared tempted to speak, the words dangling off the tip of her tongue, yet anger quickly consumed whatever inclination she had to open up to the kit. "She doesn't tell you anything, does she?" Morningbloom snapped, lashing her tail in annoyance. "Why are you bothering me? Go ask your own two-faced mother to tell you. Or that pathetic Snakeclaw. Or the elders. I don't care! Just don't pester me about it."

As she stalked away, Orangekit stifled an urge to claw her ears. _How did anyone fall in love with that?_ He thought sourly to himself. Yet, despite his attempts to push aside her insults, something stung within him. He could care less for what she said about Snakeclaw, but his mother? He was angry. He was offended. He wanted to retaliate, to lash out at her, to make her take back what she said, yet he knew it would only make his mother look worse than she did. If association with Snakeclaw sullied his mother's reputation in the eyes of her family, her Clan, then Orangekit wanted nothing to do with him.

That, he was sure of.

He brooded on, not hearing the paw steps approaching him from behind. A tailtip on his shoulder caused him to flinch, whipping around only to find himself staring at Marshkit.

"Are you okay?" She asked, worry glimmering faintly in her deep brown eyes. "You look a little troubled."

He opened his mouth to tell her, but shut it, thinking better of it. He didn't want to bother her like he did her mother; plus, if he couldn't even understand it, why should he dump it as a burden on her?

"No worries, " he answered with a smile. "I'm alright. Are you?"

Marshkit sighed, her gaze averting. Orangekit's heart lurched sadly as he noticed the conflict on her face. "I don't know," she murmured. "I understand why Boulderfoot got so upset, but why he would attack Snakeclaw and hurt him like that? I mean, sure, he isn't a ShadowClan cat, but he's never hurt anybody, y'know?"

Orangekit ran his tail comfortingly along her side. The anger and dislike he harbored towards her mother was the opposite of what he felt for the young she-cat. She must have inherited her kind and tender heart from her father, because it surely couldn't have come from Morningbloom. "I know," he said. "But the whole ThunderClan thing probably shook him up- I doubt it's a nice sight to find two dead cats on your early morningg patrol. He was only thinking about protecting his Clan."

Marshkit glanced at him, equally as annoyed as she was intent. "That's still mouse-brained of him. ShadowClan already has a bad reputation because of our history, but we aren't killers like ThunderClan- he shouldn't have let his temper get to him. If Ruststar hadn't stopped him, I'm pretty sure Snakeclaw wouldn't have walked away from that with just a cut on his shoulder." She lashed her tail in frustration. "I thought they were honorable heroes, like what we hear about in the elders tales; what made ThunderClan change into the Dark Forest on earth?"

Orangekit blinked softly at her. Marshkit had always been a gentle soul, kinder than her sister and perhaps too sympathetic for her own good, but probably the only cat who had ever treated him like an equal besides his mother. He pressed into her, letting her lean against him as he pondered what to do. How could they figure out what the whole Clan seemed to be hiding from them? Who could they ask?

That's when Morningbloom's words echoed in his ears.

 _Go ask someone else to tell you. Like your mother, or Snakeclaw._

 _Or the elders._

"Marshkit," he meowed, a smiling splitting his face. "I think I know somebody who can help us."

* * *

 **Hey, Reader!**

 **I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. After a crazy week at school, it feels good to finally get this out in the open!  
**

 **I will do my best to settle on a regular uploading cycle. I'm thinking either every Sunday, every Wednesday, or twice a week on those days, depending on how much writing I can get done between my studies and responsbilities.  
**

 **Please feel free to follow, rate, review, etc! All is greatly appreciated.**

 **Until next chapter,  
Weasel.**


	3. Chapter 3

**::CHAPTER THREE::**

The tom was still as a stone when they entered the elders' den.

They held their breath as though it were the only thing keeping them from plummeting thousand-fox-length drop. Uncertainty glimmered in their eyes as they exchanged inquisitive glances. Before them lay one of the two elders of ShadowClan, Gorseclaw. His body was curled loosely on a nest of moss and soft ferns. Orangekit didn't want to get any closer than he needed to, in fear of discovering something he'd rather not see up close, but Marshkit was already inching forward, carefully placing her paws to ensure she didn't make too much noise, until she had reached him. The tortoiseshell she-cat studied him closer, before letting out a soft but heavy sigh.

"He's asleep," she whispered back to him, and Orangekit let out his own breath in a rush of relief.

"What should we do now?" He asked as she came back to stand at his side.

The young she-cat pondered for a moment, then replied, "I guess we just wait until Gorseclaw wakes up?"

Orangekit, though disappointed, nodded. The two backed quietly out of theden, only to feel fur brush against their tails. Immediately the pair spun around to find themselves standing before an old, soft-furred she-cat. She was beautiful despite her age; the flash of white above her nose shone brightly against her silver fur and her green eyes were still clear and alight with amusement.

"Looking for someone?" She mused.

"Silvercloud!" Marshkit mewed with excitement. Orangekit watched as the two touched noses in greeting, remembering that the old she-cat was the mother of Marshkit's father, Pounceclaw. "We were, actually. We wanted to ask you two a question, but you weren't inside and Gorseclaw is sleeping."

The elder chuckled. "Isn't he always?" With a wave of her tail, she beckoned for the pair to follow her. "I was just coming back from the fresh-kill pile. Come with me; keep an elder some company while her den-mate is snoring."

Silvercloud led them to a shady spot not so far from the den. Orangekit's fur bristled as thoughants were crawling through it. He couldn't stand to wait any longer or he swore his head might explode with all the possibilities he was imagining! As she settled slowly upon her haunches, she switched her green gaze between the two. "Well? What are you two looking for- a story?"

Orangekit glanced unsurely at Marshkit. "Sorta," he said. "We kinda have a question."

"Do you now? Out with it then. What do you want to know?"

As though a dam had been broken to let a river flood through, questions began to pour uncontrollably out of the kits. They wanted to know about ThunderClan; how the once-called "heroes of the Clans" could seemingly turn overnight. They wanted to know why those cats would do what they've done- such as killing their elders, stealing territory, killing without reason- and why nobody seemed to have any motive to stop them from doing it.

The warm welcoming on Silvercloud's face immediately shifted to a look of guard. Unsurely, but with a smile, she asked, "I'm sure your mothers would want you to learn his from your mentors, not me?"

"Morningbloom told me to my face to go ask you," Orangekit quickly replied.

He saw a shadow cast over the elder's eyes, sending an immediate pang of guilt to resonate throughout him. He hadn't meant to bombard the old she-cat so suddenly. Yet, they had to know. They would be apprentices any day now anyways- what difference would it make if they waited?

The elder wrapped her tail neatly around her paws and murmured, "I suppose no one can live forever in oblivion. Not even kits. Well, get comfortable, little ones. This is going to be a long one." She waved her tail, beckoning them close. Then she added, more to herself, "And StarClan help me tell it right."

They shuffled near, peering up at her zealously. Orangekit's heart was beating against his chest. Something was churning within the young tom. A yearning to know. A yearning to understand. He wanted to know what was going on the real world, the world his mother lived in- perhaps, even his father, too. He was getting older. Moss-toss had grown boring for he and his den-mates, and they fantasized only of being warriors now- of fighting true battles, not just the ones they created. This would only bring him one step closer to being a real member of ShadowClan, to understanding the history of his ancestors. This is surely what he wanted.

Yet, as eager as he was to know what everyone else in the Clan seemed content to hide from them, Orangekit was apprehensive still. Things could only get complicated after this lesson, and Orangekit knew that well- he only hoped he would not wish to return to the simplicity of ignorant bliss, where the only world he knew was the serene world inside his Clan's camp walls.

 _There's no going back from this now_ , he thought as Silvercloud began to speak.

"The truth is, kits, that not even your elders know the tale by heart. No cat really knows the truth of what caused ThunderClan to abandon the nobility and honor they had once possessed and turn to their lives of treachery. What I can tell you for sure, however, is that it all was the doing of a single cat."

"A single cat ruined an entire Clan?" Marshkit said disbelievingly. Silvercloud gave a small nod.

"When I was a young apprentice, ThunderClan's leader at the time, Crowstar, announced a new deputy. All cats who encountered him adored him. He was a well-spoken, charismatic, disciplined, and noble young tom- everything you would expect from a ThunderClan cat. The other leaders and deputies welcomed him warmly, and I don't think anyone was suspecting what horror he would later commit. Look at me- you know I am well by in my moons. But that gathering was the last gathering ThunderClan ever attended.

"Full moons went by and no ThunderClan cat ever turned up. Their borders were never faint, yet there was hardly a sound to be heard from their territory. Every cat was stumped- we didn't understand how an entire Clan could just disappear."

"So how did you find them?" Orangekit piped up.

"We sent out a patrol. Two cats from every Clan, since this was an effort between all three of us. My father was on that patrol." A look of sadness darkened her eyes. The young kits exchanged glances of regret and pity. They both knew, in that moment, that things were not going to end well.

"When the patrol left, they were expected to return by sun-down, yet they never did. We waited three days for them to return, but the worry only grew. A rescue patrol was sent out, this time with the deputies of the Clans, to make the severity of our actions known to ThunderClan. It is a crime to kill, but to kill a deputy is an offense to the heart of the Clan. Yet out of all the cats who had gone into that territory, only one came out alive."

Marshkit's breath caught in her throat. "You mean... they were killed?"

Orangekit's hackles bristled with a fear he tried to convince himself was anger. "The monsters!"

Silvercloud hushed them with a flick of her tail. "We found the deputy of RiverClan, Stoneybrook, passed out on our border. Both of his ears were clawed up terribly, but I'll keep you from the gruesome details of what the rest of him looked like. It took him days to come back to us, but thankfully, StarClan granted us not only his soul, but also the knowledge he had learned. When Stoneybrook arose, it took him some time to adjust to his injured hearing, but he managed to tell us what had happened. ThunderClan, he said, no longer followed the same Code as us. Crowstar had died not long after the last gathering ThunderClan participated in, making way for their new leader: Burrstar."

"Burrstar?" Orangekit echoed. Speaking the very name alone felt like he had a thorn in his tongue.

Silvercloud nodded. "Burrstar claimed he had been visited by StarClan, who told him to sever from the rest of us- that we were lost causes, disgraces on the name of the four Clans. He killed any cat who dared to speak against him. When our first patrol entered their territory, they were slain for trespassing, and when the second tried to talk reason, they were killed for heresy. Stoneybrook told us he was spared only because their new leader needed someone to tell the rest of the Clans, and he was the last one in line to die."

A shiver rolled through Orangekit. He couldn't imagine the past as a reality. He couldn't imagine that this was real, when it sounded like the elder was simply relaying to them a nightmare she once had. He couldn't imagine the agony the RiverClan deputy must have endured, but truthfully, he didn't want to. Silvercloud fixed a stern, intense gaze on them, one so strong that neither Orangekit or Marshkit had ever felt burn their pelts, and said, "Those cats have no mercy, kits. StarClan forbid you ever run into them alone."

Orangekit stared at his paws. Marshkit said beside him, her voice thin but firm, as if not convinced, "How come StarClan let them do this?"

Silvercloud was silent; she only hung her head. Even the wisest cat in the Clan did not know the answer to that.

Orangekit pressed, "So... how did things get to how they are now?"

"We let them," came a new voice.

All heads turned around to see an old tomcat slinking out of the elders den. His lean, worn down muscles rippled beneath a thinning, grey-flecked coat, mottled with tabby markings. His golden eyes were stern and dull, and his presence was one that radiated authority and experience so intensely that Orangekit could sense it in his bones. He shuffled closer to Marshkit to make room for the elder as Silvercloud dipped her head respectfully. "Gorseclaw- did you nap well?"

He grunted as he fell to his haunches. "I napped," he meowed curtly. He then swept his gaze across the faces of the two kits. He clearly had better things to talk about then the fairness of his sleep. Like he had been with them since the beginning of the conversation, Gorseclaw opened his mouth and let flow the story to Orangekit's question. "We allowed those retched cats get how they are. Our mistake was expecting ThunderClan to come to their own senses. They began to take in every rogue, every loner, every kitty-pet or even just curious Clan cat into their ranks. Their territory was large, much like ours used to be, but not enough to sustain their growing numbers. We knew we could not fight them, as they easily outnumbered us, yet ShadowClan was foolish to think that the sense could be starved into them. That damned leader of theirs was a merciless one. He cared for his cats and his alone. In the dead of the night, he and his devils ambushed us. We lost almost half our ranks to them, and half our territory, all in one foul swoop. Little did we know at the time that WindClan had suffered the same attack that very same night. When Silvercloud warns you that these cats have no mercy, she's right. The fuzz on your young pelts mean nothing to them but a sign of an easy kill."

Now, Orangekit was glad he had moved closer to Marshkit, because the blood had run cold in his veins.

Silvercloud tried to ease them with a gentle stroke of her tail down Marshkit's flank, though it did little to waver the pure horror stricken on the young she-cat's face. "RiverClan gave us segments of their territory, but it was not enough. The three Clans, as foolish as it was, ended up fighting against one another over borders, losing more and more lives in the process. Finally, after Ruststar became leader, he called a Gathering early to discuss the problem. He and the other leaders then divided what remained of the lake between all three Clans. Ever since then, we've been living in a delicate peace. Thankfully, those evil ThunderClan cats seemed to be a part of that peace, for nothing has happened for quite some moons."

"Until today," Gorseclaw puffed, raking his claws across the dirt.

Marshkit was shaking her head, as if she couldn't wrap her mind around it. "Surely not _all_ ThunderClan cats are evil? Snakeclaw is from ThunderClan, and he's never hurt anybody."

The silver she-cat gave an awkward twitch of her tail. "Not evil," she said, "but he is very... _different_ from the rest of us. ThunderClan cats are trained to kill, not defend themselves. They are taught to mask their emotions and to be cunning and coldhearted. I can see him striving to learn our ways, to integrate, but you can't blame your Clan-mates for being a little hesitant to accepting him when he comes from the very Clan that killed their family."

Orangekit tilted his head. "Why did we let him live with us if we don't trust him?"

As if surprised, Silvercloud flicked a wide-eyed look upon Orangekit. "Your mother never told you this story?" She asked. Bewildered, the young tom shook his head. Silvercloud casted her eyes across the camp, the kits following her gaze to where it rested near the medicine cat's den. Sitting before it were Lilystripe and Snakeclaw, close enough together so that their pelts were only a whisker from brushing. Orangekit kept watching his mother and the warrior as the elder spoke.

"Not many moons before you were born, Orangekit, your mother brought Snakeclaw to our camp. He was wounded very badly, and while our medicine cat was treating him, she begged Ruststar to let him join us. At first, he was ready to deny it. How could ShadowClan harbor an enemy, so ruthless and ready to kill? But, once he had heard what Snakeclaw had done for her- although he may have been reluctant- Ruststar allowed him to become one of us."

"What did he do?" Marshkit asked.

"He saved her life." Said Gorseclaw, a look of disgruntlement on his face. "She said that prey led her over the border into ThunderClan territory when she was hunting. Those cats take trespassing very seriously. If Snakeclaw had not been on the patrol that caught her, she would likely not have made it out alive."

"He protected her," Silvercloud mewed. "Though, they ended up wounding him badly for his rebellion, and ultimately exiled him for betrayal."

Gorseclaw laughed dryly, cutting in. "StarClan knows why they didn't just kill him."

"After he was casted out," Silvercloud continued, "Lilystripe brought him here for treatment. Ever since, he's been here at the mercy of Ruststar. Those two were close, you know- too close to have just met, and everyone could tell. Perhaps that is why Ruststar had let him stay, for your mother never fit in very well here, Orangekit. Snakeclaw finally gave your mother a companion, but after you were born, they stopped sharing meals together, let alone even speaking." She sighed softly. "I do hope today brings them close again. I truly hate to see your mother so isolated. Morningbloom doesn't exactly make good company."

"Hey!" Marshkit said, to which Silvercloud gently apologized, though Orangekit could see in the old she-cat's eyes that she wasn't truly sorry

The tom looked down at his pale ginger paws. Confusion as brewing inside of him, and with it, too many questions. Why hadn't his mother told him any of this? If Snakeclaw meant so much to her, why didn't he play any role in her son's life? He had never seen the two even _sneak_ a glance at each other in the six moons he had been alive! What had driven the tom to save his mother? And if the two really had shared such a strong bond before Snakeclaw even joined the Clan, what had caused it to so suddenly disappear?

Guilt began to rise within Orangekit. Surely he had not been the reason?

He could sense Marshkit's worried stare on his fur, but he had no urge to look up at her. Silvercloud shifted, as if about to move on to another topic, when someone called her name from across camp. All eyes turned to watch Ruststar and several warriors padding over to them from across the camp. He recognized Buzzardtail, the deputy, along with Goldenfern, Leopardfang and Flamewhisker, their medicine cat. Orangekit spotted dried flowers in the reddish-brown tabby's mouth. He flicked his gaze back to Ruststar, wondering what they were for.

As he stood before them, Orangekit began to notice every detail. He had never been so close to Rusttstar before. Flecks of gray covered his muzzle and his face, yet his copper eyes still blazed with strength and vitality. His ears were large and tufted, just like Marshkit's, and though he was surely up in his moons, his physique still seemed to be toned with the muscles of a powerful warrior in the prime of their life.

"Gorseclaw, Silvercloud," Ruststar meowed in greeting, dipping his head to the elders. Though authority edged his voice, affection warmed his gaze as he stared at the silver elder. A purr rumbled in the back of her throat as Silvercloud rose to her paws, dipping her head back to her mate in greeting.

"What can I do for you?" She asked.

Ruststar gestured with his tail to the group of warriors behind him. "The day is wearing on and it will be sundown soon, when it will be time we buried those elders. I want to see if we can determine who they were before we lose the light, but it is only right they are buried honorably, in the traditional way."

She nodded in agreement, then turned her head to the kits. "Run along and find your mothers. I've told you more than enough today."

The pair dipped their heads, mewing their goodbyes. As they walked back towards the nursery, Orangekit cculd not raise his head, for a storm of thoughts was raging within his mind. He wondered if it was really StarClan that had really visited Burrstar, and what it must be like to live in such a strange Clan, full of cats with mixed blood and varying heritages. He wondered if his existence had cost his mother her only friend, who, despite being born in a StarClan-forsaken Clan, despite only distancing her more amidst her own Clan, was still a friend nonetheless. Amidst the many questions, one popped in his head that, despite his resistance, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering to.

If he had been born in ThunderClan, would he feel more like he belonged?

Just before they reached the nursery, Marshkit stepped in front of Orangekit, stopping him in his tracks. In the dim, rosy luminance of the evening, her cream fur almost shone ginger, just like his, and her soft, warm brown eyes seemed to glow amber.

"Orangekit," she meowed, "I hope you know you'll always be my friend. Even if your father is a ThunderClan cat, or some other outsider- I'll never think any less of you for it. Not like the way the rest of our Clan thinks of Snakeclaw."

The tom stared at her for a moment. Though the stern look in her eyes seemed to fortify her statement, he questioned if her heart would ever change on the matter of their friendship. However, that small, determined smile that creased her maw gave him hope that if he would have to live like Snakeclaw did, at least he would have her to depend on the way the warrior had Lilystripe.

"Honest?" He asked.

"Honest," she swore, placing a white paw on top of his.

For a moment, they simply shared each other's time, locked in a stalemate of stares. His heartbeat hastened a bit, swelling with a foreign mixture of excitement and nervousness, so much so that he swore his chest would burst. However, whether out of good or bad fortune, it hadn't the time to explode, for in that same moment, Marshkit's jaws were beginning to stretch in a yawn.

"Great StarClan, I'm tired," she mused, casting him a sleepy glance. Sitting for so long must have made her drowsy, and the mass of information that had just been stuffed into their heads surely didn't help. As if summoned by the exhaustion of their kits, Morningbloom and Lilystripe appeared out of the nursery, ushering them inside. Marshkit settled beside Briarkit, who was already lost in a dream that made her paws twitch, while Morningbloom circled around them. The small tom slumped into his mother's belly, nestling into her tail as it curled around him.

In the silence that quickly settled upon the den, Orangekit heard Marshkit whisper..

"Goodnight, Orangekit."

He smiled softly.

"Sweet dreams, Marshkit."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, readers!**

 **I apologize for the extreme delay with this Chapter. I know I said last chapter I'd update once or twice a week, but that probably won't be happening. College deadlines are coming up, so I've been very busy ((and stressed yikes)) and along with it, there's been a lot of drama I've had to sort out.  
Since this story is sort've a diary for me, I've had to rework some of the plot points for the future and change some characters around. I also rewrote this chapter, which didn't help with the timing. But since I had a few minutes to breathe, I wanted to spend it by finishing and putting out this chapter, before the bustle of school and responsibilities sweep me away again.  
Enough excuses, though- I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
Got something to say? Leave a Review! And if you like the story, be sure to Follow for its next update (it'll be like a little surprise that neither of us know when will happen, bc my life is unpredictable xD).  
Thank you so much for reading, and any sort of support is deeply appreciated!  
Until next Chapter,  
-W.**


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